That's Not Real Climbing

Chaz is a blind paraclimber from team Canada and is in the B3 category, meaning he has about 10% of his sight left. What’s crazy is that he didn’t start climbing until after he lost his vision! In this episode, we’ll learn about his rocky journey losing his vision at 32 years old and struggling with alcoholism, how to lead belay blind, and hear some surprising stories about run-ins with famous climbers that he doesn’t know because ...

Tijl is currently the IFSC Europe president but he is now running for the president of IFSC with elections taking place in April. In this episode, we’ll learn about how IFSC politics works, hear about the changes he wants to make within the IFSC, and get his take on some hot topic issues like national federation quotas, RED-S testing, and the NEOM games.

Guest links:

Tijl’s Instagram

Reference links:

Info on elections and candidates

Tha...

Gregor was a boulder & lead climber from team Slovenia but he recently retired a few months ago from competitions. In this episode, we’ll get insight into the powerful Slovenian team, how he made the decision to retire and all the planning around it, what it’s like climbing with Janja, and we get to hear him geek out about holds and hold shaping.

Guest links:

Gregor’s Instagram

Reference links:

Gregor’s hold brand

Thank you Mad Rock...

Anna is a boulder & lead climber from team Germany and one of the younger athletes I’ve interviewed so far as she still competed in youth world champs last year. In this episode, we’ll talk about the differences between the youth and senior circuit, the pressure of expectations after FLASHING all qualis boulders in Innsbruck, and we get some insight into team Germany.

Guest links:

Anna’s Instagram

Reference links:

Thank you Mad Roc...

Rodrigo is a boulder & lead climber from team Brazil. He actually started climbing fairly recently in 2018, but since then has been a 2x south american cup winner and is working his way up the ranks on the world cup circuit! In this episode, we talk about what makes training and climbing in Brazil difficult, how he feels like a “weaker” climber due to starting out as a chubbier kid, and mindset tips he uses while competing.

Gues...

Niklas Wiechmann and Jake Mason are routesetters from "Another Setting Podcast" but you may already be familiar with them because Niki was my FIRST ever podcast guest and you are probably familiar with Jake from the Bouldering Bobats. In this episode, we absolutely TRASH US gym hold selection and setting, they give their opinions on worldwide setting styles, comp formats, and moves to LEAVE BEHIND in 2024, and we discuss freelance ...

Andy is a climbing PT from Process Physiotherapy. He has been climbing for over 30 years, has coached in the past, and over time has noticed climbing injuries change as the style of climbing has evolved in the competition scene. In this episode, we'll debunk some training and PT myths, talk about the differences between male and female climbers and the types of injuries they face, and we’ll hear about why he thinks fingers are stro...

"She goes by Oce" is a boulder and lead climber from Australia! She's had an amazing 2024 season with her first world cup boulder medal in Prague, and also recently competed in her 2nd Olympics. In this episode, we'll learn about how she battled THREE health issues while competing in the Paris olympics, how Paris compared to Tokyo, her training with team Switzerland and making lead climbing gains, and her (thankfully far in the fut...

Tom is team GB’s ex-head coach! He personally coached Shauna Coxsey into getting her Tokyo Olympic ticket and has worked with the rest of team GB up until he left the national team earlier this year in April. In this episode, we'll learn about why he’s banned from the USA, the strategy for getting Shauna to qualify for the Olympics, and the politics and public backlash he faced working in the circuit that led to his eventual resign...

Sofya is a boulderer on team Switzerland and she’s part of the wave of OG climbing Youtubers! In this episode, she gives us a debrief on her last comp of the 2024 season in Prague, we get some insight into team Switzerland and their potential upcoming funding issues, and she opens up about her past struggles with disordered eating and how she overcame it.

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Another double-guest episode! Stanley is an IFSC event delegate and judge chair, while Zul is officially a newly minted IFSC judge. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to become an IFSC judge, hear about their relationships and interactions with athletes and coaches, and we’ll hear some crazy stories about their judging experiences under pressure and cancelling events due to rain like in Keqiao.

Join Patreon for a welcome gift, de...

Jesse is a boulder + lead climber (mostly lead climber) from the USA who is fresh from the Olympics! In this episode, he walks us through his entire Olympics experience, from training through his first ever finger injury, to balancing training with his engineering job, to meeting other athletes in the Olympic village.

Join Patreon for a welcome gift, deleted scenes, and question priority: www.patreon.com/thatsnotrealclimbingpodcast

G...

Olga is an official IFSC routesetter, and she recently came back from Paris, where she helped set the Olympic boulder rounds. In this episode, we'll learn about what it takes to become an IFSC setter, what it was like setting at the Olympics and trying to make the rounds fair, and how she balances setting, training, and traveling all while being a single mother.

Join Patreon for a welcome gift, deleted scenes, and question priority:...

I know Allen from our climbing training class in San Diego, but he is also a boulderer for a brand new IFSC federation, Team Guam. In this episode, we'll learn about what it’s like competing on the world cup circuit as an “average” climber who only started climbing at 23 years old and works a full time engineering job. We’ll also hear about what it’s like as a NEW competitor competing in Innsbruck including the afterparties, and al...

Madison is a boulderer for Team Canada and you may have seen her Youtube videos with her husband Zach on their channel, Richardsons Climbing. In this episode, we'll learn about the issues the Canadian climbing team faces such as not having a head coach, her “lose” streak when it comes to Canadian nationals, Youtube and deleting social media, and we’ll get her take on getting married young and relationships among climbers.

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Sebastian is a German paraclimber. He is also the chair of the paraclimbing commission, and he worked on filing the application to get climbing into the Paralympics for LA 2028, which only recently got approved! In this episode, we'll learn about his journey accepting that his disease would affect his body and climbing forever, what the process was like for getting climbing into the Paralympics, the drama behind the paraclimbing cl...

Noah is the Assistant National Belay Coordinator of USA Climbing and has volunteer belayed at events nationally and internationally at IFSC youth worlds in 2022. In this episode, we'll learn about how to get into volunteer belaying, some interesting tidbits on belay devices and catching falls that you may not have thought about before, what the differences are belaying different paraclimbers, and some bad falls that he has had to w...

Ross is a boulder and lead climber on Team USA and you may be familiar with his Youtube channel where he documents his climbing adventures and shares coaching tips. In this episode, we'll learn about his bikepacking adventure that he skipped the first half of the 2024 world cup season for, hear about his struggle trying to balance competitions with his desire to travel and all his other hobbies, the importance of mindset and medita...

Erin is a boulder and lead climber from team GB who has been having a stellar 2024 season so far, making finals for boulder in Keqiao, lead in Wujiang, and getting bronze in Shanghai OQS! In this episode, we’ll get some insight into how she seemed to rise out of nowhere, her brutal off-season training, we’ll learn a bit about team GB, and stay for the end to hear about where the Erin McBeast nickname came from.

Guest links:

Instagram

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